Life
The Holy Apostle Thomas, whose name in Aramaic means “twin” (and in Greek Didymos), was by birth from Galilee. Called into the circle of the Twelve, Thomas stands out as the apostle who is willing to follow the Teacher even to death — when Christ announced His departure to Judea after the news of Lazarus’s dying, and when the apostles feared stoning, Thomas encouraged his brothers: “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” In this sentence Thomas’s character is evident: boldness and directness, but also a tendency to express his thoughts without embellishment.
At the Last Supper Thomas put to Christ the question that opened one of the most profound answers in the Gospel: “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Christ answered: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” — words the Church has remembered to this day as a summary of the entire Gospel.
The scene that gave Thomas the epithet “the doubter” — but also the title of the apostle who knew the Risen Christ most deeply — took place eight days after the Resurrection. Thomas was not present at Christ’s first appearance to the apostles and could not accept the account of his brethren: “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Christ appeared again precisely for Thomas, invited him to touch the wounds, and declared: “Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas, seeing and touching, cried out: “My Lord and my God!” — confessing the Risen Christ with the full liturgical title. Christ then said: “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” — but this blessed faith of those who believe without sight does not cancel the confessional value of Thomas’s witness, for he saw and testified to what others received only by faith.
After the descent of the Holy Spirit, Thomas received by lot Persia and India as his sphere of apostolic work. The mission in India was one of the most distant and significant in the apostolic age. Thomas sailed to southwestern India (Kerala), converted numerous Hindu families, and founded a community still called “Thomas Christians” or the Syrian Church of Saint Thomas today. This community, continuously present in India from the first century, is one of the oldest proofs of apostolic missionary work.
While building a palace for the Indian king Gondophares — legend has it he distributed the money for construction to the poor and told the king he had built him a palace in heaven — Thomas was finally seized, tortured with spears, and reposed as a martyr near present-day Chennai (Madras), at a place still called San Thomé. The Church commemorates him on October 6, in memory of the translation of his relics to Edessa.
Tropar (Tone 2)
O holy Apostle Thomas, pray to the merciful God to grant forgiveness of sins to our souls.
Kontakion (Tone 7)
Enlightened by the grace of God, O Apostle Thomas, thou didst confess Christ God, saying: My Lord and my God. Therefore, we who are counted worthy of the glory of thy memory bless Christ who enlightened thee through thee.